A pulmonary varix is a localized dilatation of a pulmonary vein, which is usually asymptomatic presented as a mass on a chest roentgenogram, and diagnosed with pulmonary angiography. We encountered a case of 55 year-old man, in whom incidentally identified was a dilated blood vessel that passed through the minor fissure and returned to the inferior pulmonary vein, which we diagnosed as pulmonary varix. This vascular anomaly was accompanied by the occluded superior pulmonary vein, highly suggestive of the developmental mechanism of this disease.
CT fluoroscopy-guided transsacral intervertebral drainage for pyogenic spondylodiscitis at the lumbosacral junction is feasible and can be effective with a combination of two interventional techniques-CT fluoroscopy-guided bone biopsy and abscess drainage.
A 77-year-old man suffering from prolonged fever of unknown origin and bilateral leg edema was referred to our hospital. On physical examination, he had fever, general fatigue, bilateral lower leg edema, and muscle weakness of the right upper extremity and left lower extremity. Neurological examination indicated motor and sensory disturbance. Electromyography revealed mononeuritis multiplex and myopathy. A biopsy of the left biceps muscle indicated necrotizing vasculitis with fibrinoid necrosis. Considering all the data together, he was diagnosed as having polyarteritis nodosa (PAN) and concurrent active cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection. His symptoms improved promptly on treatment with 50 mg of prednisolone. This case emphasizes the importance of CMV infection as one of possible etiologies of PAN and reports a therapeutic strategy for this syndrome.
Identifying the causative pathogens in patients with pyogenic vertebral osteomyelitis is important for optimizing antibiotic therapy. Thus, we examined patient characteristics and investigated the efficacy of the combined use of blood culture and image-guided biopsy culture for identifying the causative pathogens of pyogenic vertebral osteomyelitis. A case series study was conducted in hospitalized patients who were diagnosed with pyogenic vertebral osteomyelitis using electronic medical records. Twenty-three patients who had undergone both blood culture and image-guided biopsy to determine the causative pathogens were identified. Detailed patient characteristics were identified, and the detection rate of a causative pathogen was 57% using either blood or biopsy specimen culture. By combining the results of each culture, the detection rate was increased to 83%. We described the detailed characteristics of patients with pyogenic vertebral osteomyelitis from whom both blood and biopsy specimen cultures were obtained. We found that the combined use of blood culture and biopsy specimen culture is useful for enhancing the detection of causative pathogens in patients with pyogenic vertebral osteomyelitis.
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